Coconut Panna Cotta: 2000s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com

2000s Recipes + Menus

Serves6

Active time:15 min
Start to finish:5 hr (includes chilling)

March 2009

Silky panna cotta starts with an easy, quick homemade coconut milk: Simply soak dried shredded coconut (here, we use the sweetened variety, left over from Key Lime Coconut Cake) briefly in hot water, then blend and strain it. Some of the flakes that remain in the strainer can be toasted for a garnish if desired. Be aware that the water and fat in coconut milk will tend to separate a bit, but that won’t detract from the taste at all and actually looks very pretty.

1 1/4 cups boiling-hot water
1 2/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups heavy cream plus additional if necessary
1 (1/4-oz) envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 tsp)
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sugar

Equipment:

6 (5-oz) ramekins

Pour boiling-hot water over coconut in a blender, then let soak 5 minutes. Blend well, about 30 seconds (use caution when blending hot liquids). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measure, pressing on solids until you have 1 cup coconut milk.
Add cream to coconut milk (to bring total to 3 cups).
Lightly oil ramekins. Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small saucepan and let soften 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring, until gelatin has dissolved. Add cream mixture with sugar and a pinch of salt and heat over medium heat, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Divide among ramekins and chill until set, at least 4 hours.

Cooks’ note: Panna cotta can be chilled up to 1 day.

Recipe by Ian Knauer

Photograph by Stephanie Foley